Business Phone System Upgrade: Everything You Need to Know

Business Phone System Upgrade: Everything You Need to Know

Although the reasons or timing may vary, every business will at some time to need to considering upgrading its current phone system. If you are in this position now, then don’t worry. You’re certainly not alone.

In this blog, we collect all the insightful blogs, considerations, and toolkits to share the system upgrade perspectives and help you make informed decisions easier with “plain-spoken” information.

Part 1: Should I make the upgrade?

For some businesses, the need to upgrade a business phone system is straight and driven by a specific event or severe system failures like consistent call drops. Yet for a big percentage of SMBs, the needs could often seem less imperative – the old systems are still maintaining the basic functionality and the action of upgrade could imply new expenditure, overhaul downtime, and some extra efforts of training.

In such cases, justifying a business phone system upgrade can be challenging, but not necessarily. There are more than enough reasons to consider an upgrade, and in most cases, businesses are simply behind the curve and don’t realize them.

Outdated phone systems could hold your business back with little notice. Watch out for 6 critical signs indicating that it might be the time for a major upgrade – even if your old system is still functioning.

Below are two blogs that could help you to self-diagnose and conquer the “growing pains” of a phone system upgrade.

6 Signs It Might Be Time to Upgrade Your Business Phone Systems
Conquering 6 Common Fears of Upgrading a Legacy Phone System

Part 2: What is the best type of phone system type for me?

Whether or not an immediate upgrade of the business phone system is right for you, it’s smart to ensure that your voice system decisions can meet your business requirement, will grow as your needs change, and are the most effective in the long-run.

The business phone systems on the market now generally come in 2 types: the traditional analog systems and the newly-developed VoIP phone system. And the VoIP phone system can be further divided into two options according to its deployment method: on-premises VoIP phone system and hosted VoIP PBX (Cloud Phone System).

Each phone system type has its own pros and cons. To help reduce the confusion, in this part we include two informative blogs with clear comparisons, so you can get a basic understanding of your options and gain valuable insights on how to select the best-fit phone system or communications solution for your business.

VoIP vs. Analog Phone System: The Differences and Top Considerations

In this blog, learn how Analog phone systems and VoIP phone systems differ in technology, feature, costs, mobility, reliability with clear statistics, and intuitive comparison infographics.

On-premises or Cloud PBX? 5 Questions to Determine the Best Fit

The debate has been around for years that whether a cloud solution is better than an on-premises one, but despite all the marketing hype, there is actually not a definite winner. There are fundamental differences as well as pros and cons. You need to ask the right questions first, and then determine which makes sense for your business. Check on the 5 questions to ask when considering moving Cloud or On-premises and find your own answers.

Part 3: Need to convince your team of the upgrade?

Upgrading a phone system is no small feat. And sometimes, your team simply doesn’t realize how an obsolete phone system is holding the business back. To convince the upper management of the essential phone transformation, your job is positioned to present the case tangibly while providing essential proof of overall return on investment (ROI), which might include the potential savings, the problems of the old system, the business-enhancing benefits of the new solution, etc.

Here are some power-packed arguments and tools to help you get started.

TCO Analysis: How to Calculate the Real Cost of a Business Phone System

This blog provides an essential guide and tool (TCO Calculator) that can be used to develop an in-depth analysis of total cost of ownership and uncover the hidden telecom, operational, or maintenance costs of a business phone system. Find out how your new and old solution will cost in the short and long term, and evaluate the financial merits of different buying models (cloud versus premises-based).

How to Convince Your Boss to Upgrade Your Legacy Phone System

Let your boss see the light! This blog collects the most power-backed arguments and statistics to prompt your upper managers to rethink their continued reliance on legacy phone system, including:

  • 3 key issues of legacy PBX that make company growth cost-prohibitive
  • Exclusive business-enhancing benefits of VoIP business phone system
  • Significant savings by upgrading to VoIP and statistics proof

There is no lack of approaches and options when it comes to replacing an existing system, but a reliable source and guidance is sure to save you time and energy. If you are looking to upgrading your phone system, Yeastar is here to help you with expert guidance. Just contact us!

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Integrations

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System

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Manage storage allocation and duration of various types of data being stored on the PBX.

Determine the types of event notifications to be sent out, and the parties receiving them.

IVR

Add various audio voice prompts to be played according to different call scenarios.

Add voice prompts on multiple levels for more effecient and precise inbound call routing.

Voicemail

Customize default voicemail settings for each user extension.

Add various voicemail messages for allocation to different call scenarios and users.

Provision specific rules to how voicemail messages are played over the PBX system for better caller experience.

Reports and CDR

All call log activities are stored, with the option of having audio conversations recorded by default or for specific extensions.

Use intuitive visual call reports, to check various call statistics over extensions, trunks, queues, ring groups, and more.

Call reports can be viewed and downloaded directly from the PBX, or scheduled to be sent via email to respective parties.

Security

Restrict a general group or specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorized access to your PBX.

Limit the number of otbound calls users are allowed to make within a time period to protect against toll fraud.

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User Login

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Recordings

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Recordings

Record all calls made on specified extensions, conferences, or call queues.

Paging and Intercom

Create different types of paging and intercom broadcast groups for selected extensions.

Set a time schedule to automatically start your broadcast.

Maintenance

Check for and download firmware upgrades to ensure that your PBX is always up-to-date.

Perform back-ups to prevent data and settings from getting lost.

Perform troubleshooting on your own to debug.

Conference

Pre-set conference settings and dial-in passwords for security, and allow internal users to send conference invites to external parties.

Speed Dial

Create multiple speed dial numbers to respective external numbers frequently used for outgoing calls.

Speed dial is activated when the set prefix (default or customized) is dialed.

Ring Group

Create multiple ring groups and determine custom ring strategies and failover settings for each.

Call Queue

Create different call queues with specific ring strategies and failover settings.

Static agents permanently answer calls in queue, while dynamic agents can log in and out. Allocate different extensions to each group.

Determine what actions are to be allowed for Mangers or Agents to manage on the Queue Panel.

Call Control

Have calls received on specific SIP trunks routed to designated extensions or destinations within the PBX.

Set-up dial patterns so that outbound calls are routed to their intended destinations.

Determine how calls are routed and received at different times of a day.

Contacts

Store, retrieve, and share company contact details easily on your PBX.

Organize company contacts into dedicated phonebooks and determine accessibility rights to extension groups for each.

Bulk import a list of contacts instead of having to key details in individually.

Role and Client Permission

Pre-defined user roles within the PBX are conveniently available for allocation, or create your own set of permissions.

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IP Phones can be quickly provisioned to your Yeastar PBX with just the pre-defined template and device MAC address.

Trunks

Register multiple SIP trunks on a single PBX as needed.

Different types of trunks can be created, Caller ID can be customized.

Extensions

View, deploy, add, and remove user extensions within your PBX system.

Configure default call and user settings for individual extensions.

Customize allocation of user extensions to specific ring groups.

Portal Login Page

Receive your administrator log-in credentials and set-up guide via email.

Log-in on any web-browser to get started with PBX set-up.

Installation Wizard will guide you through basic configurations.

User Login

Access all company contacts made available to you by the administrator.

Create your own personal contacts list for easy reference and dialing.

Bulk import contact details for convenient data entry.

User Login

Access and manage user settings for softphone application and voicemail.

Manage call routing and presence status for your individual extension.

Retrieve or download your personal call logs and recordings.

User Login

Receive your log-in credentials and set-up guide via email, sent by your admin.

Log-in on any web-browser to get started with PBX set-up.

Configure contacts and personal settings from the web portal.

Auto Provision

Add, remove, or modify IP phone settings from your web interface.

Upgrade IP phone firmware conveniently from your PBX.

Upload various default setting parameters specific to respective IP phone models for greater convenience during set-up.

Contacts

Store, retrieve, and share company contact details easily on your PBX.

Have detailed contact information for your vendors and clients conveniently stored .

Bulk add a list of contacts instead of having to key details in individually.

PBX Monitor

Monitor the status extensions, whether they aren idle, in use, or unavailable.

Know whether your SIP Trunk running properly, or experiencing problems.

Monitor the number of call conferences currently running on your PBX, and their individual durations.

Maintenance

Check for and download firmware upgrades to ensure that your PBX is always up-to-date.

Perform back-ups to prevent data and settings from getting lost.

Perform troubleshooting on your own to debug.

Call Detailed Report

All call log activities are stored, with the option of having audio conversations recorded by default or for specific extensions.

Filter by date, time, or extension number to retrieve specific call logs or recordings

Playback call recordings directly from the PBX or download to store externally.

Event Center

Determine what events and logs are to be recorded and/or have notifications sent.

Specify particular notifications to be sent to respective authorized personnel.

User Permission

Set up vaious groups of users for allocation to certain sets of access rules.

Determine what features a certain group of extensions can or cannot access.

Determine if users can access, play-back, or download call logs and recordings from the pbx.

Security

Restrict a general group or specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorized access to your PBX.

Determine specific the range of SIP ports for connection between your PBX and endpoints.

Restrict country codes for outbound calls either company-wide or on certain extensions.

Voice Prompt

Upload and designate customised audio recordings at multiple levels of a call journey.

Upload recorded music to fill the silence that would be heard by callers on hold.

Upload customised voice prompts to create a professional call experience.

General

Customize general call preferences either company-wide or for individual extensions.

Set-up feature dial codes for convenient user navigation to specific call features.

Determine how voicemails are retrieved, and also upload custom voicemail recordings.

Call Features

Add multiple automated responses to be played at different phases of a call journey.

Designate specific extensions to ring concurrently based on an external caller's dial pattern.

Customize messages and waiting times to keep external callers engaged when put on hold.

Call Control

Have calls received on specific SIP trunks routed to designated extensions within the PBX.

Set-up dial patterns so that outbound calls are routed to their intended destinations.

Determine how calls are routed and received at different times of a day.

Trunks

Register multiple SIP trunks on a single PBX as needed.

Provision SIP trunk settings and dedicate them to particular extensions.

Bulk add DDIs on each SIP trunk, for allocation to an individual or groups of extensions.

Extensions

View, deploy, add, and remove user extensions within your PBX system.

Allocate and deploy specific extension numbers to respective users via email.

Set-up default ring and presence status settings for individual users.

Deal One View

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View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

Deal One View

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

Deal One View

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.